Effect of lane-closure signals upon driver decision making and traffic flow

Abstract

APPLIED A DECISION-THEORETIC MODEL TO DRIVER BEHAVIOR ON AN URBAN EXPRESSWAY. THE MODEL PERMITS INFERENTIAL MEASUREMENT OF RESPONSIVENESS VS. CONFUSION AND RISK TAKING PREDISPOSITION. THESE VARIABLES AND 2 DIRECT MEASURES (RISK TAKING AND HAZARD) WERE MEASURED IN A FIELD STUDY OF FORCED MERGING FROM A BLOCKED LANE. RESULTANT INDEXES WERE COMPARED UNDER 2 EXPERIMENTALLY MANIPULATED METHODS OF LANE CLOSURE: SIGNAL CLOSURE (SC) AND CONVENTIONAL CLOSURE (CC). THE SC METHOD, WHICH PROVIDES EARLIER WARNING OF THE CLOSURE, WAS SUPERIOR TO CC IN TERMS OF LOWER HAZARD AND GREATER RESPONSIVENESS VS. CONFUSION. THERE WERE ALSO IMPROVEMENTS IN SEVERAL TRAFFIC FLOW CHARACTERISTICS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)